Many of us would feel totally surprised if we come to know that there is a direct relation between poor kidney health and our eyes!! Yes, it`s true!! For our lives to be healthy and normal, it is a must that we must have good kidney health. Just like our heart, lungs, liver etc, kidneys are also vital organs in us. Various factors for kidney damage or kidney failure in us could be due to high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes,  presence of autoimmune diseases, infections etc. The windows to our overall health are our eyes. Point is that certain symptoms in our eyes would indicate damage to our vital organs. The fact is that symptoms that occur in the eyes or ocular symptoms would appear early in us and they would be the first external signs associated with our kidney damage. Especially in those with chronic conditions like high BP and diabetes etc, eye symptoms would be related to underlying kidney issues. That our kidneys are not functioning well would be shown by these eye based symptoms. Please take care. Puffy eyes in the morning: When kidneys don`t function properly or kidney dysfunction, then protein would leak into the urine. This condition is termed as proteinuria. It is an indication of damaged kidney filters or glomeruli. Truth is this is common in early kidney disease. Blurred vision: Persons with diabetes or high BP would have blurred vision if they have kidney disease in them. The blood vessels present in our retina would get damaged due to high blood sugar level leading to diabetic retinopathy and high BP would result in hypertensive retinopathy. By these, we could get vision based issues in us. Dry or itchy eyes: Waste products would get built up in the blood and this is termed as uremia. Tear production would get reduced due to this build up and would lead to inflammation of conjunctiva. The eyes would become dry and itchy. Dryness would become more severe in more advanced stages. Reddish or bloodshot eyes: Tiny blood vessels present in the eyes would get inflamed because of the uremia condition. This would make the eyes appear reddish or bloodshot. It is worthy to note here that some kidney conditions are associated with auto-immmmune issues like vasculitis etc resulting in redness in the eyes, pain in the eyes etc. Vision loss or changes in vision etc: We must never ignore our sudden loss of vision or changes in our vision. The vision issues in kidney patients can be because of artery occlusion or hypertensive crisis etc. There are also possibilities of vision issues due to dialysis complications also.

Do you know that in urban India CAD or Coronary Artery Disease is prevalent and it ranges from 7% to 13%? Your heart health depends on various factors among which some are visible and others are invisible. One most common issue that affects our heart is CAD or coronary artery disease. Not many of us know the fact that issues such as CAD are solely caused by high cholesterol levels. Point is that exercises and regular checkups are suggested by the doctors for the sake of heart health. It is believed that knowing multiple factors that could lead to CAD would allow for a more comprehensive approach for its prevention and management etc. What is CAD? A disorder that affects the vessels that are responsible for supplying blood to the heart is CAD. Plaque build up would cause arteries to get blocked and this can lead to heart attack, heart failure, abnormal heartbeats or arrhythmia etc in us. Many would feel chest discomfort or pain that comes and goes in intervals with a predictable pattern. This is one common symptom of CAD. Shortness of breath is another symptom. Lesser known reasons for getting CAD are Atherosclerosis: It is noteworthy that the important cause for getting CAD is atherosclerosis. This is a gradual build up of plaque and it would block artery leading improper blood flow. Truth is that the plaque build up would even start from childhood also. Diabetes or insulin resistance: There are more chances of getting CAD if the person has high blood sugar levels or diabetes. Fact is that elevated blood sugar levels would damage the blood vessels permanently. Moreover, plaque formation would get accelerated. High blood pressure or hypertension: It must be noted that high BP would exert force against the walls of arteries. As a result, a small injury would be created in the linings of arteries. By this, plaque would be formed and arteries would get hardened. The elasticity of arteries would reduce over time and due to this bringing more blood to heart becomes difficult. There would be more stress on the heart due to high BP. Please take care. Tobacco or smoking: Inner lining of the artery would get injured due to harmful chemicals from smsmoking. It is true that chemicals would result in the cholesterol deposits that stick to the arteries. Oxygen supply would be reduced by smoking, elevates heart rate and increases BP.

The month of June every year is observed as the Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month is known. The main objective behind this is to increase awareness about Alzheimer’s disease or AD and dementia etc and encourage brain health foods among people. What is Alzheimer’s disease? A progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking cells and affects a person’s ability to carry out even easy activities is Alzheimer’s disease or AD. The shocking piece of information is that AD is responsible for 70% to 80% of dementia cases. The 3 important stages of AD are early or mild stage, middle or moderate stage and late or severe stage. There are various causes for getting affected by AD and these are age, genetics, lifestyle, environmental factors etc. Frequently overlooked health issues in us that can result in cognitive decline are Hearing loss: There are chances of increased cognitive workload and social isolation when we do not treat hearing loss in us. These two could lead to dementia in us. It is worthy to note here that regular hearing tests coupled with hearing aid use would improve long term cognitive function. Type 2 diabetes: The progression of dementia in us would become faster or accelerated if we have high levels of blood sugar in us. It must be taken into note that high blood sugar would affect our brain blood vessels and cause inflammation. Cognitive functions in us can be protected by a combination of healthy eating, exercises, medication etc. So, please be careful. High blood pressure or hypertension: There are high possibilities of cognitive decline if we have high or uncontrolled blood pressure or BP. The high BP would stress the blood vessels in our brain leading to restricted blood flow. This could further lead to vascular dementia and AD. So, please take care. Depression: These days many of us have this depression issue and it could be due to several reasons. Bitter fact is that if left untreated then we could have cognitive decline. Sleep apnea: The sleep apnea issue often gets overlooked and it can also lead to cognitive decline in us. It is noteworthy that having sound or deep sleep plays a huge role in memory and cognitive function in us. It is believed that early diagnosis and treatment using CPAP therapy or lifestyle adjustments etc would improve our sleep quality and cognitive function. Obesity & metabolic syndrome: We could get brain shrhrinkage and cognitive decline due to inflammation from obesity, insulin resistance and vascular problems. Our brain health would become better if we exercise and achieve a healthy body weight and this would lower the chances of dementia etc.

    How many of us are aware of the fact that blood pressure or BP needs to be kept in control or managed well for our heart health to be normal? In the hot and scorching summers, maintaining a healthy blood pressure is very essential as our bodies would be under more stress. Point to be noted is that consuming foods that are rich in potassium would be superb for the sake of blood pressure. Functions of potassium: Not only potassium would regulate salt levels in our body but also relaxes blood vessel walls and support heart functions etc. It has been brought out by research studies that intake of potassium rich foods could help us to manage our BP in a healthy range. Potassium rich summer foods to eat for managing BP are Banana intake: It is known that banana is one of the easily available fruits and it has high amounts of potassium in it. Hence, it is good to incorporate into our everyday diet by blending them into smoothies, fruit salads etc. Watermelon intake: One fruit that can be both hydrating especially during the summer season as well as rich in potassium is water melon. When we consume water melon, then our BP would get managed well and we would have a cooling effect in us. Coconut water intake: It is known that a natural electrolyte rich beverage is coconut water. Drinking this would keep us hydrated well plus would help in managing our blood pressure. Hence, it is good to drink coconut water especially in the summers. Spinach intake: Not only spinach has potassium but also other vital minerals that are required for our health. We can consume spinach in the form of smoothies and also by adding it to salads etc. Mangoes intake: In the summer season, mangoes would be available easily and it is rich in potassium. This fruit would help in managing our blood pressure. Tomatoes intake: It is known that tomatoes are used to prepare many dishes. Potassium is present in high amounts in tomatoes. In the hot summer season, we can consnsume tomatoes either as juice or eat them as vegetables by adding them to the meal. Yoghurt intake: It is noteworthy that yoghurt is an excellent probiotic and rich in potassium. Consuming yoghurt in the scorching summer season would cool us and blood pressure would be controlled also.

  Those persons who are suffering from lack of sleep or insomnia have now got a reason to rejoice!! From being used as salad toppings to toast companions, avocados have now become a snack for sound sleep. Surprised right!! It was brought to light by a new study published in the Journal of American Heart Association that consuming one Hass avocado every day might improve sleep quality. It is noteworthy that Hass avocado is known for its creamy and nutty flavour with pebbly dark green to black coloured skin when ripe. Hass avocado could vary from pear shaped to oval shaped. The study conducted by Dr. Kristina Petersen and her team at Penn state originally focussed on the heart health of the adults with abdominal obesity. Research was conducted on as many as 969 participants aged 25 to 40 having waistlines 35inches (for women) and 40 inches (for men). There was no significant gain in cardiovascular health in those persons who added large Hass avocado to their diet for 26 weeks. It was surprising that they slept well. It led to new questions regarding how the nutrients present in the foods might support sleep or rest. According to Dr. Petersen no single food does miracles but avocados intake holds promise within a balanced lifestyle. The impact on eating avocados for heart health was explored by Dr. Petersen and her team but they unexpectedly found sleep benefits.  The participants who took part in the research study were divided into 2 groups. One group included Hass avocado in their diet and the other group did not include Hass avocado in their diet. Their sleep quality report after 26 weeks was amazing. It was found out that those who ate avocados regularly slept better without changing their sleep schedules. How does avocados intake promote sleep? It is worth mentioning here that Hass avocado provides mono-saturated fatty acids that would support heart health. The presence of dietary fibres in avocado would promote digestion and metabolism. Potassium present in the avocado would control the blood pressure. Brain health would be supported by Vitamin K present in avocado.  Hormone regulation is maintained by pantothenic acid present in avocado. On the whole, intake of Hass avocado would promote relaxation and would boost sleep. Therefore, intake of one full Hass avocado along with proper sleep habits would bring changes in us for getting sound sleep. It was later revealed by the researchers that just one avocado would not replace sleep hygiene in us. Truth is that intake of avocado must be paired along with exercises plus reduced caffeine and alcohol intake, quitting smoking and with less screen time etc. Avocado not trendy food anymore: It is already known that intake of avocados regularly would improve heart health by lowering bad cholesterol levels. The risk of type 2 diabetes in women would get lowered also. Now, it has been proved that intake of avocado would also promote sleep.  This shows that avocados are not trendy foods anymore but more than that.